Template name won't be accepted

[illi]

Hey guys!
I did not find a solution to this, so please have mercy. Maybe it is a obvious thing.
In the following only the latter sensor will show up. It seems like if I define triggers for the sensor, the template in the name won’t be accepted. The same sensor (with triggers) without a template in the name works. I’ve been dealing with it for two days, but couldn’t find a solution.

- trigger:
      - platform: time_pattern
        # This will update every night
        hours: 0
        minutes: 0
  sensor:
      # Keep track how many days have past since a date
      - name: "test123_{{ now().ctime()[:3] }}"
        state: "{{ now().ctime() }}"
        
- sensor:
  - name: "test1234_{{ now().ctime()[:3] }}"
    state: "{{ now().ctime() }}"

[petro]

you can’t template name but you can template friendly_nmae in attributes.

- trigger:
      - platform: time_pattern
        # This will update every night
        hours: 0
        minutes: 0
  sensor:
      # Keep track how many days have past since a date
      - name: "test123"
        state: "{{ now().ctime() }}"
        attributes:
          friendly_name: "test123_{{ now().ctime()[:3] }}"

- sensor:
  - name: "test1234
    state: "{{ now().ctime() }}"
    attributes:
    friendly_name: "test123_{{ now().ctime()[:3] }}"

[illi]

@illi

- sensor:
  - name: "test1234_{{ now().ctime()[:3] }}"
    state: "{{ now().ctime() }}"

But somehow this works? Only if there’s a trigger defined.
I rather would work around the friendly name. The point is, not to type entity id‘s for all 120+ devices. I definitely spent more time now on this than just typing it down but that’s how it his by nature with coding I guess

[petro]

@illi

But somehow this works? Only if there’s a trigger defined.

This is because templates are only resolved when the template is executed. When you use a trigger, it will only resolve the template on the trigger. Without the trigger, the template is resolved based on the states & objects inside the trigger.

So at restart, that triggerless sensor will update immediately, then once a minute on the minute (defined by using now() in your template).

The time pattern trigger will only update once a night, therefore the template will only be resolved when that trigger occurs.

[123 (Taras)]

The example in this post seemed very familiar to me (notably the use of now().ctime()[:3]) and then I remembered why:

Add a friendly name template to the new template sensor format

I believe your wish is already granted (with one hitch). If I do this: - name: "testing_{{ now().ctime()[:3] }}" unique_id: 'just_a_test' state: "{{ now().ctime() }}" I get this: [Screenshot from 2021-08-11 14-13-39] However the hitch is I have lost control of the entity’s object_id. It has been automatically set to template_just_a_test (a concatenation of “template_” and the unique_id). To regain control of it, I can modify it via the UI (not via its configuration). From this: …

What Petro said; the name is generated only when the Time Trigger triggers (at midnight).

[illi]

I get it… thanks!

[illi]

Woah… somehow you got the same line as me!
Na, joking yes I’ve seen your post and used it for simplification here. But it wasn’t 100% clear to me that I could really only template friendly names.
Thank you for helping out

[123 (Taras)]

I would have suggested you add this trigger which would evaluate the template the moment Template Entities are reloaded:

  - platform: event
    event_type: event_template_reloaded

However, it’s probably not ideal for your application because you want the template to be evaluated exclusively at midnight in order to produce a count of total days. You might want to try it just to confirm the point that a trigger must occur in order to generate the sensor’s name.

[petro]

I don’t believe this trigger works for template resolution as the event occurs, then the system reloads, effectively never getting the trigger. It’s possible I was using the wrong event though when I was doing this a few weeks ago.

[illi]

This is my actual code now. It’s for battery powered zigbee devices for a simple, functional „offline alarm“. I guess I need to go with the friendly name.

- trigger:
    - platform: state
      entity_id: input_boolean.on_off_laden
      to: "on"
    - platform: time_pattern
      hours: /1
  sensor:
    - name: "xy sensor"
      state: >
        {% set entity = 'bewegungsmelder_b1_linkquality' %}
        {% set ls = as_timestamp(state_attr('sensor.' ~ entity, 'last_seen')) | int %}
        {% set n = as_timestamp(now()) | int %}
        {% if (n - ls) > 86400 %}
          Offline
        {% elif 43200 < (n - ls) < 86400 %}
          Demnächst prüfen
        {% elif (n - ls) < 43200 %}
          Online
        {% endif %}